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France: Villepin Trial Opens

On the first day of his civil trial in the so-called Clearstream affair, former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Monday accused President Nicolas Sarkozy of pursuing him for political reasons. Mr. de Villepin, left, is accused of involvement in a smear campaign against Mr. Sarkozy and 38 other plaintiffs dating back to 2004, when Mr. de Villepin and Mr. Sarkozy were ministers in President Jacques Chirac’s government and jockeying to succeed him. The case centers on a leaked list, since determined to be fake, of people including Mr. Sarkozy said to hold secret bank accounts at Clearstream, a financial clearinghouse in Luxembourg. The accounts were supposedly linked to kickbacks related to the sale of French frigates to Taiwan. “I am here because of the determination of one man, Nicolas Sarkozy,” Mr. de Villepin said before taking his place on the defendants’ bench. “I will leave free and vindicated.”